I own a pH meter made by Hanna Instruments, that lasted for about 4 years. It has a glass bulb, a battery, and can be calibrated using a solution of known pH. The procedure is simple: you turn on the meter, immerse the probe in the known solution, and adjust the calibration potentiometer until the meter reads the correct pH value. Calibration is done before each test, or every hour, if you are doing a large number of tests on one day. The meter cost about 45 dollars. It can achieve results accurate to plus/minus 0.1 pH unit. When this meter finally died, I switched over to dye indicator solution, specifically bromocresol green. Using this indicator, a test solution sample will turn yellow at pH = 3.8, and blue at pH = 5.4. It will turn various shades of green in between these two values. With dye indicator, I am confident that I can discriminate to plus/minus 0.2 pH unit, and this seems to be close enough for growing blueberries. There are other dye indicators available, covering the entire range of pH. These are less expensive, a 2 dollar bottle of dye indicator will do about 100 tests, and there is no calibration required.

Whenever I come across an informative post, I like to take a second to show appreciation. Even if the info isn't something I'm interested in at the exact moment, I can still appreciate the effort/consideration it took to put it together. Thanks, Eric - well done.

Al

It seems like when I have used a solution for ph testing, I have gotten very high ph readings......don't understand why because it is usually several years between limings....unlike Steve Solomon's advice on homemade fertilizer which seems very alkaline.

I didn't believe the Sudbury results until I went over to the adjacent corn field and got a 6.4 reading. Mine were likely 8. Still my things grew excellently.

The probe meter I have with batteries gives me a more soothing reading of 6.5 to maybe 7.

Over the years few of the pH meters I have seen that cost less than several hundred dollars are not very reliable, but one can play with then. You do need distilled water, pH of 7.0, to calibrate the meter. Litmus paper can be usaed if you know the pH range you nee to work in.
If you are mixing a solution the substance to be tested should be mixed into distilled water, and allowed to steep, before testing.

There was a period of time when I had a functioning pH meter, and also several dye indicator solutions, including bromocresol green, bromocresol purple, & bromothymol blue. These 3 dye indicators cover the pH range 3.8 to 7.6. The results from dye indicator testing agreed with the results using a calibrated pH meter. Kimmsr is correct, you must use pure water, distilled or de-ionized, when testing soil samples. Our local tap water has pH = 7.6, so it can't be used for soil testing, or for making calibration solutions.

I likely used distilled water for the more recent tests, but got high ph readings. A test of yard soil was 7.3.

My well water is about 6.5.

Interesting... I was just looking on Amazon for pH meters. There are so many and I'm just looking to test the soil on my home veggie garden. Is there a specific model that anyone can recommend that is pretty reliable and doesn't require too many additional purchases (ie. solutions, etc) The price range is pretty wide, and I'm sure, like anything else, you get what you pay for. But for a basic home model?
Don

I'm not sure that a pH meter is needed for growing vegetables in a home garden plot. Usually, adding compost, preferably compost that you make yourself, is all that is needed. Here in Wisconsin, we have a lot of limestone, and our soil is on the alkaline side, pH around 7.6. Not a problem for growing most vegetables, but if you want to grow blueberries, azaleas, or rhododendrons, then you have to measure soil pH and make adjustments.

While those pH meters may give some reading they do not tell you what the ratio of Calcium to Magnesium is, whether you need to add Calcitic lime or Dolomitic lime to correct a low pH. Plutting the wrong one down won't help correct the problem.

since the spreading of both types of lime mentioned does practically the same thing, affecting the pH, there is no need to concern yourself about which one.
The dolomitic type does add magnesium as well as the calcium which the former one does not.

While most plants do tolerate a range of soil pH, the widest range prefer slightly acidic soils (5.8-6.5) and that includes most vegetables. In SoCal, soils do tend to be on the alkaline side (as does irrigation water), so it may be very appropriate to test and adjust if necessary. And if you make sure to use distilled water, the home testing solutions kits (like the Sudbury mentioned above) will provide quite accurate results for a very inexpensive investment.